• Prior 91

At the same time, we also have the business confidence numbers for March as per below:

• Business confidence 97 vs 96 expected
• Prior 97
• Services confidence 96
• Prior 96
• Manufacturing confidence 99
• Prior 102

French household confidence eased back in March as the proportion of households who consider that prices will accelerate over the next twelve months has increased very strongly. That of course due to higher energy prices in relation to the US-Iran conflict.

The household perception of future prices jumped sharply from -29 in February to -1 in March. That is the highest reading since September 2022. So, that sort of puts things into perspective of how fearful consumers are feeling about inflationary pressures.

Meanwhile, business confidence also dropped slightly at the balance from 97.5 (unrounded) in February to 96.9 (unrounded) in March. That marks the softest reading since October last year and the 24th straight month that business sentiment keeps below the long-term average of 100.

The services sector kept more stable alongside retail trade, with employment conditions also holding up. The latest dip comes from the manufacturing sector, which is seen dropping slightly on the month.

This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.